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Senator Rand Paul’s Budget Plan is Still the Best

Rep. Paul Ryan, the Republican Chairman of the House Budget Committee, has released his new budget plan called The Path to Prosperity: A Blueprint for American Renewal. His plan does contain some praiseworthy proposals such as cutting the corporate tax rate, repealing ObamaCare and ending forms of corporate welfare. However, it does not cut a single federal department and doesn’t balance the budget until 2040. Paul Ryan’s plan has received tons of media attention but it’s difficult for me to get very enthusiastic about a plan that would take nearly three decades to balance the federal budget.

While the Ryan plan is certainly preferable to President Obama’s budget, it is not as bold as the budget plan introduced by Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Jim DeMint in the Senate. Rand Paul’s plan known as a Platform to Revitalize America would slash four federal departments and balance the budget within five years without raising taxes. Now, we’re talking. The Department of Education, Energy, Commerce and Housing and Urban Development would be axed under the plan. Unfortunately, the media has largely ignored this true fiscally conservative budget.

Believe it or not, some people think that even Paul Ryan’s budget is “too extreme.” The progressive blog ThinkProgress is spreading dishonest information about the Ryan plan. A blog headline on their website reads “Paul Ryan’s Budget Includes $3 Trillion Giveaway to Corporations, The Rich.”

The blog’s author Travis Waldron writes that, “he repeals the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), slices the top corporate tax rate to 25 percent, and repeals all of the health care taxes contained in the Affordable Care Act. It also repeals the repatriation tax on profits corporations earn overseas then bring back to the United States. In all, those tax breaks amount to $3 trillion giveaway to the richest Americans and corporations, according to the Tax Policy Center.”

First of all, tax cuts are not “giveaways.” Think about this flawed statist logic for a minute. The author is implying that all of our wages belong to the government. He does not consider your wage to be your property. The government will decide if you can keep the fruits of your own labor. If the federal government lets you keep more of your paycheck, it is “giving you” money. You haven’t earned it.

That clearly isn’t the case. Our wages belong to us. When the government cuts taxes, it takes less of our hard-earned money. We are able to keep more of our paycheck without punishment from the IRS. ThinkProgress often claims that tax cuts "cost" money. But as Sheldon Richman writes, “tax cuts don’t cost money; government programs do.”

It’s our money, not the government's.

Subsidies and bailouts are real examples of government giveaways to rich Americans and corporations. Perhaps ThinkProgress should rethink their support for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) which gave hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to big, politically-connected banks. ThinkProgress bloggers continue to spread the lie that taxpayers profited from TARP. Not true.

ThinkProgress is spreading deceitful talking points about the Paul Ryan budget plan. But the Ryan proposal still leaves something to be desired. Rand Paul’s proposal is the only budget introduced so far that will eliminate federal departments and balance the budget in the near future. Not decades down the road. If Republicans are serious about cutting government spending, they should stand behind Rand Paul's budget.

I don't think Ryan is the conservative that he claims to be, or is given credit for. There are at least a few plans that balance the budget in a lot less then a quarter of a century. Does anyone really believe that any congress will stick to a 25year plan when they can hardly stick to a 25min plan?

Since the Federal Reserve opened its doors in 1914, it has never been audited. It remains the most secret and least accountable operation of the federal government. Our dollar has lost 97 percent of its value since its creation. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) have both introduced the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2011. The Federal Reserve Transparency Act would eliminate the current audit restrictions placed on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and require a full and thorough audit of the Federal Reserve.

Politicians typically break campaign promises more often than not. When an elected official instead chooses to keep their word, he or she deserves recognition for their consistency. With the rise of the Tea Party movement, many lawmakers are talking about cutting government spending. Few politicians, however, are willing to truly walk their talk. Some of those exceptions include new senators such as Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT).

Dear Senator, On behalf of over a million FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to support several amendments to S.493 the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Reauthorization Bill and others that reduce the size of government.With our nation over $14 trillion in debt, I urge you to support any effort to rein in excess spending. The following amendments will set us in the right direction towards prosperity and job creation.

Despite their rhetoric, the Department of Energy has little to no interest in protecting consumer choice. These federal bureaucrats believe that they can live your life better than you can. Beginning in 2012, the Department of Energy will ban anyone from using the 100-watt incandescent light bulb. The ban will effect the production of the popular child's toy the Easy-Bake Oven. During the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Sen.

Dear Senator, On behalf of over a million FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to cosponsor S.299, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act. Introduced by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) along with 24 original co-sponsors, this legislation requires a vote in Congress on any “major” regulations issued by the Executive Branch before it could be enforced on the American people.

Yesterday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) delivered his maiden speech on the Senate floor. Paul first remarked that he will sit at the famous Kentucky legislator Henry Clay’s desk. As the leader of the Senate, Clay was commonly referred to as the “Great Compromiser.” But will Rand Paul be a great compromiser?